


Light and Dark

by flowerpower71



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Betrayal, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-13 19:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4534827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerpower71/pseuds/flowerpower71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riya had grown up in the slums of Balbadd with Alibaba and Kassim. The three grew up as best friends and siblings. However, as time goes on, the only family Riya has ever known begins to fall apart, loyalties are tested and fate is cursed. Plus what happens when she begins to develop feelings for one of them? Read to find out! KassimxOC Rated T for later chapters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

My name is Riya.

I have not had the best lot in life. 

In fact, its pretty crappy to tell you the truth.

I was an unwanted child born in the slums of Balbadd. I was the result of an unplanned pregnancy and my parents neither wanted to, or could afford to raise me.

The day I was born I was passed off to my grandparents and they raised me till I was six years old. They were kind people. Always putting what little money they had to begin with towards what I needed. They loved me and I loved them......However, when I was six, they died of old age and sickness. From then on out I was on my own.

 

Little did I know though that my life was about to take an unexpected turn of events. For it would be in that same year that I would meet two boys who would become my world.

One with hair as bright as the golden sun with a matching smile and attitude. One who would shine and do great things in the world.

The other who would strive to be like the first but could never live up to the expectations. One whose once bright soul would be tainted black due to the events of the unfairness of this cold cruel world. One who would eventually lead me down the wrong path.

 

Alibaba and Kassim

My brothers.

My friends.

My family.

And for one of them, my lover.

My name is Riya.

And this is my story.


	2. A Chance Encounter

The hot afternoon sun beat down on the slums of Balbadd. The smell of sweat and garbage filled the summer air as the citizens of the slums struggled to survive another day.

We focus in on one of those citizens, a small child, a girl to be exact. Her long electric blue colored hair fell down across her back while dirt clung to her skin and raggedy dress. Her gray colored eyes looked around curiously as she sat huddled in an alley in a cardboard box that she had claimed as her home for the past several months, ever since her grandparents had died and she had been forced to live on her own.

 

The girls name, was Riya.

Riya winced as her stomach let out a loud growl. She hadn't eaten in two days. Nothing she found in the garbage was edible enough to eat and when she did manage to steal an apple, it was stolen from her by some older boy. She had to get some food, very soon. 

And so with that knowledge in mind, the six year old child set out on a mission to find and to steal some nourishment.

 

Now here I suppose would be a good time to explain a bit of Riya's backstory and how she got into this predicament. Both of her parents, Rashad and Jini, were poor, working hard to make it by. Her father, Rashad, doing whatever jobs he could get and her mother, Jini, eventually becoming a prostitute to bring in extra money, despite her husband's obvious objections.

However, it wasn't long until they discovered that Jini was pregnant. Neither of them ever planned on having children (who would want to bring a child into the world when you cant even take care of yourself?) But once the child was born, Jini died in childbirth. Rashad, not even wanting the child in the first place and now grieving for his wife, blamed his daughter and abandoned it. Taking her to the house of Jini's parents, Kala and Omar, leaving them to raise her.

 

Taking pity on the poor infant, Jini's parents took in the unwanted baby girl and raised her as their own. Though they themselves were poor, every little bit of extra money they could get went to help raising their granddaughter whom they named Riya. They loved her and she loved them. They didn't have much, but they had each other and that was enough.

 

However, tragedy struck the past winter when both Kala and Omar had gotten sick. They held out as long as they could but in the end, their bodies were just too old to fight it off. They passed away in their slip earlier in the year and Riya was left all alone in this cold, cruel world.

 

Back in present time, little Riya had just arrived at the market. Slinking from shadow to shadow to keep herself hidden. All around her she could smell the aroma of all the fresh foods that were for sale and heard venders shouting above the noisy crowd to attract customers to their stands.

 

"Fresh Fish!"

"Apples! Get your juicy red apples here!"

"Handmade necklaces! Half price!"

So many foods for sale. What to get? What would be the easiest to steal without being caught?

Riya suddenly stiffened as she smelt something that smelled like it came straight from heaven above itself. It was a smell she had smelled before. Many times in fact. It was fresh, hot from the oven-

 

"Bread! Get your fresh baked bread!"

 

Riya's mouth watered as she looked at the stand a little ways down. A fat, bearded man with was showing off a wide smile as he held up a loaf of bread, trying to wave down as many customers as he could get.

 

Perfect.

 

The gray eyed child waited for the crowd to thicken a bit before she scurried out of from behind the large bags of grain she was hiding behind and made her way to the stall. She hid herself behind people and stands until she reached the bread stand. Once the man running the stand had his back to her, Riya raced over to the nearest pile of fresh baked goodness. She grabbed a loaf but just as she was about to run, a fat sweaty hand suddenly latched itself onto her small arm and lifted her up off the ground.

 

"Well, well, well. What do you have here?" the vender snarled, holding Riya up to eye level. "I hope you're able to pay for that!"

 

Riya shook with fear, hugging onto the bread in her free arm. "W-Well um......no."

 

"No money, no bread!" the vender spat, snatching the bread away from her and then throwing Riya onto the ground like she was a rag doll.

"Oof!" Riya grunted as she landed on her side. "B-But sir, please! I'm really hungry. Can't you just spare one-"

 

"I already told you, no money no bread! Now get lost street rat!" the man yelled at her, pointing a chubby finger in the direction leading away from his stand. "Go back to the slums where you belong!"

 

But instead of leaving, Riya puffed out her cheeks and glared at him defiantly as she got to her feet. "You big meanie!"

 

The next thing the vender knew he was doubled over in pain, holding his crotch. Watching as the child grabbed the loaf of bread he dropped and scrambled out of there as fast as her little legs could take her. He growled in fury, he was not going to be made a fool of by some street rat brat!

 

"GET BACK HERE YOU DAMN BRAT!!" he bellowed and chased after her.

 

"Uh oh!" Riya yelped and began to run faster when she saw the vender running after her. Both of them shoving past people and zig-zagging all around as the chase lead them all through, and eventually out of the market.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

"Come back here Alibaba!"

Not to far away from the market, two little boys were playing. One with sunny yellow blond colored hair and the other with dark purple colored dread locks. Both of them were dressed in dirty raggedy clothes and were running down the deserted street, the blond boy running ahead of the dread-locked boy, a small white flag clutched tightly in his hand.

 

"You're so slow Kassim. You can't catch me!" Alibaba laughed, looking back at his friend.

 

Kassim narrowed his yellow eyes and growled. "Yes I can!"

 

"No you can~!" Alibaba laughed and ran faster, just out of reach.

Kassim scowled. No way was he letting him get away! He braced himself and suddenly leaped forward. Alibaba had just enough time to look back behind him to see the older boy flying at him before he was tackled and both of them fell to the ground in a heap, dusting flying up around them.

 

"Oof!"

As the dust cleared, Alibaba groaned a little in pain, the breath coming back into his lungs. He blinked his brown eyes open, only to see a smirking Kassim sitting on him.

 

"Ha! I told you I'd get you!"

 

The blond blinked once, twice, before smirking and holding up the flag which he still held. "But I still got the flag!"

 

Kassim blinked then scowled. "Gimme it!"

 

"No!" Alibaba pulled the flag out of Kassim's reach and squirmed to get away. Within seconds both boys were rolling on the ground wrestling. Both boys punching and kicking the other, fighting for dominance and victory of the game they were playing.

 

And yet ironically enough the flag had been dropped and forgotten in the scuffle.

 

Kassim had managed to get Alibaba into a chokehold while Alibaba managed to grab a fistful of dread-locks. But as they were fighting, both boys were broken apart as something, or rather, someone, smacked into them, knocking all three of them to the ground.

 

The two boys groaned and sat up, Alibaba rubbing his head and Kassim rubbing his side. They both looked over and saw a small child around their age laying flat on their stomach. A puddle of blue hair spilled across her back and partially onto the ground and a loaf of bread laying on the ground next to her hand.

 

The third child moved, propping herself up on her arms and turned around into a sitting position, looking between the two boys. "S-Sorry!"

 

Alibaba opened his mouth to respond but before he could, someone interrupted him.

 

"STOP! THEIF!"

The girl paled as she saw the vender rounding the corner and towards her. She quickly scrambled to her feet and snatched up the bread, taking off running. The bread vender followed after her, not even looking at Alibaba or Kassim as they passed.

 

The two boys watched them run off then looked at each other. Though neither of them spoke a word, they both knew what the other was thinking. They nodded and both rose to their feet and then took off after them, determined to help the mystery blue haired girl.


	3. Unlikely Heros

All this for a loaf of bread? 

 

"GET BACK HERE!"

 

Riya looked back behind her to see she was still being pursued by the furious bread merchant. Honestly, all this trouble for one loaf of bread? He had more for craps sake! 

 

Now I know what you're thinking dear reader: Why not just drop the bread and steal something else? Well the answer is simple; Riya would have had to stolen some type of food regardless be it bread, a fruit, some fish or whatever. Why go through the trouble of sneaking around only to risk getting caught and chased again when she already was holding the prize? Besides, all she had to do was lose the vender and she'd be home free.

 

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

 

Riya panted and continued to run, turning down an abandoned street, her pursuer still hot on her heels. 

 

"You can't run from me forever brat!"

 

"Not forever. Just until I get rid of you!" Riya spat back. She gulped realizing her mistake as this only infuriated the vender and he picked up speed gaining on Riya. The small child yelped and ran, running past some boxes that were stacked up on both sides of the street, not noticing the rope laying in the middle of the road.

 

"Now Alibaba!"

At the sound of the new voice, Riya skidded to a stop and looked behind her just in time to see the rope raise up and the vender trip, falling flat on his face. Riya covered her mouth to hold back a giggle.

 

"What the.....?" the vender groaned in pain and looked up, only to see another child, a boy with blonde hair and a weird looking cowlick, standing in front of him.

 

"Didn't you're momma ever tell you it's not nice to pick on little girls?" the little boy asked, crossing his arms.

 

"Why you little bastard!" the vender snarled and made a grab for him, but the boy was to fast and jumped out of the way, running past him. "Get back here!" the vender ordered and scrambled to his feet to chase after the boy, the stolen bread forgotten.

 

Riya blinked at the scene. What just happened?

 

With the coast clear she turned to go but as she did she nearly bumped into someone. She stumbled back a little and looked up, gray eyes meeting yellow.

 

"Come with me." the strange dread-locked boy ordered, holding his hand out to her. Riya recognized him as the same boy she crashed into before. She glanced down, noticing he was carrying a big stick. "Come on! Hurry up before he comes back!"

 

Riya hesitated for a moment. She looked down at his hand and then back up at him. Curiosity got the better of her and she placed her hand in his. The boy wrapped his hand around hers and then took off running, dragging Riya behind him. The two ran for a bit till the boy pulled her down an alley.

 

"Wait here." the boy ordered, shoving Riya up against a wall near the end of the alley and then he ran to the front. He tucked the stick he was carrying under his arm and then climbed up a stack of crates that were sitting at the entrance of the alley. He then pulled out the stick and held it like a baseball bat and waited.

 

"What is he doing?" Riya thought to herself. 

 

She got her answer a few moments later as the sound of yelling could be heard. Shadows fell near the entrance of the alley and she saw the same blond boy run by the alley. Not even three seconds later she saw the vender approaching.

 

"CRACK!"

Riya gasped, watching as the dread-locks kid suddenly jumped off the crate he was standing on and swung the bat, hitting the vender in the head with it. The kid landed swiftly on his feet while the vender fell flat on his back, unconscious.

 

"Hahaha! We did it Kassim! We did it!" Alibaba laughed and headed back over to his friend.

Kassim shrugged. "It was nothing." he turned to the alley, spotting Riya watching them wide eyed. " You can come out now."

 

Riya hurried out of the alley and over to the two boys. She looked at the vender. "Is he dead?"

 

"Nah. Just unconscious." Kassim assured, poking the man with the stick a few times before tossing the stick aside. "Come on. Lets get outta here before he wakes up."

 

And with that the three children headed out and away from the alley, making their way to the slums.

 

"Thank you both for saving me." Riya spoke up after a few moments of silence.

 

"Don't mention it." Kassim shrugged.

 

"Yeah, we couldn't just let that guy chase you." Alibaba spoke up. "..........Why was he chasing you anyway?"

 

Riya looked down sheepishly and hugged the now slightly squished bread tighter. "I stole this bread and he got mad."

 

"Gotta do what you can to eat." Kassim said. 

 

Riya just nodded and suddenly stopped walking, causing the boys to stop too. She took the bread and ripped it into three pieces, holding two of the pieces out to the boys. "Here."

 

"Oh no! We cant take that." Alibaba shook his head. "That's yours."

 

"I know. But I wouldn't even have it at all if it wasn't for you two. Besides, slum kids gotta stick together right?"

 

The boys looked at her, the bread, each other, then smiled at Riya as they each took a piece. "Right!"

 

The trio started walking again as they munched on their victory feast.

 

"My name's Riya, by the way."

 

"I'm Alibaba." Alibaba said with a mouthful of bread. He swallowed and pointed to his dark haired companion. "And this is Kassim."

 

Kassim nodded in greeted, mouth too full to talk.

 

Riya smiled. "Nice to meet you Alibaba and Kassim." she giggled before taking another bite of bread.

 

"I've seen you wandering around the slums a couple times." Alibaba confessed. "You're usually by yourself."

 

Riya looked down and shrugged sadly. "I don't have a family....."

 

The boys suddenly stopped walking and looked at her.

 

"None at all?" Kassim asked.

 

Riya shook her head. "I don't know where my mommy and daddy are and my grandparents were taking care of me.....but.....b-but they died......" she looked down sadly, tears filling her eyes and she quickly wiped them. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, gray eyes meeting yellow. 

 

"We're sorry Riya." Kassim frowned.

 

"Really sorry." Alibaba added.

 

"It's okay." Riya said. "I-I'm fine by myself. Really. I got a box to myself and everything."

 

For a few minutes neither of the boys said anything. Both of them wanting to help but were not sure how.

 

Aliaba suddenly looked up, a wide smile pulling at his lips and his brown eyes sparkling. "I know! You can come live with me!"

 

Riya reeled back and blinked. "What?"

 

"You can live with me and my mother!" the blonde continued excitedly. "She wont mind!"

 

Riya blinked. "..............You're serious?"

 

"Yeah I'm serious!" the young boy exclaimed, his mind made up and nothing was going to change it.

 

"You're sure your mom will agree to this?" Kassim asked, putting a hand on his hip. "What if she says no?"

 

Alibaba paused. ".......Well if she does then Riya is no worse off than she was before right? There's no harm in asking." he turned to Riya. "So what do you say Riya?"

 

Riya was silent as she thought the offer over. Should she? They did save her from the evil bread vender. Plus Alibaba did have a point. She'd be no worse off than before if his mom said no....Plus if she did say yes then she'd have a home and people to take care of her. Anything was better than sleeping alone in that cardboard box.

 

She smiled. "Alright."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A little bit later the three children came upon a tent in the housing area of the slums. Alibaba separated from the two and ran ahead. "Mother, I'm home!"

 

The tent flap opened and out came Alibaba's mother, Anise. A beautiful young woman with raven black hair and kind, warm browm eyes. She was dressed in a simple pink and red lined dress with part of her hair pulled back into a side ponytail. 

 

She was the most beautiful woman Riya had ever seen.

 

"Alibaba!" Anise cheered happily, bending down and scooping up her son, giving him a hug. Alibaba laughed a little and returned the affection. Riya smiled at the scene but as she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Kassim, she noticed his fist were clenched and his mouth was in a tight line. She wondered why that was but didn't have much time to ponder.

 

Anise looked up finally noticing the other two children. "Oh hello Kassim."

 

The yellow eyed boy nodded. "Hello."

 

Anise turned to Riya, giving him a warm smile. "Hello there. Who are you?"

 

"That's our new friend Riya, Mother." Alibaba explained.

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you Riya."

 

"Nice to meet you too ma'am." Riya smiled and held up the ends of her brown colored dress, giving a curtsy. Anise chuckled at the action.

 

"Mother, Riya doesn't have a family." Alibaba began, trying to ease his parent into the conversation.

 

Anise's smile fell and she looked at Alibaba then at Riya. "You don't?"

 

The blue haired child shook her head. "No ma'am. I don't have parents and my grandparents are dead." she explained softly. 

Anise frowned worriedly hearing this. "I'm so sorry."

 

"It's okay."

 

"Mother?" Alibaba asked tugging on his mother's dress drawing her attention back to him. "Can Riya live with us?"

 

Anise blinked in surprise. "Um...."

 

"Oh please Mother?! She'll be good I promise!" the blonde child begged clasping his hand together and giving his mother big, puppy dog eyes.

Anise paused and looked between her son and then at Riya. "And you don't have anyone at all to take care of you?"

 

Riya shook her head no. "No ma'am. None at all."

 

With that, Anise's mind was made up.

 

The black haired woman sat Alibaba down and walked over to Riya, bending down to her level and smiling widely at her. "Well then, I guess Alibaba has a new sister now." she held out her hand towards Riya.

 

Riya's eyes widened in disbelief. She.....she actually said yes? A wide grin pulled at Riya's lips and she places her hand in Anise's. Anise smiled at her newly adopted daughter and wrapped her fingers around the childs tiny hand before standing up. 

 

"Alright! You hear that Kassim? Now I got a sister just like you do!" Alibaba cheered excitedly.

 

Kassim cracked a small grin. "Yeah, kinda."

 

"You're all just in time for dinner." Anise said cheerfully. "Kassim would you like to join us?"

 

The purple haired child was about to respond yes but paused. He looked at the sun and saw that it would soon be starting to set. He turned back to the other three and shook his head. "I'd love to but I cant. It's getting late and my dad doesn't like it when I get home after dark."

 

Anise nodded understandably. "Alright. Be safe going home now."

 

"I will."

 

Alibaba ran forward and glomped his best friend. "Come back tomorrow okay? Me, you and Riya can play some more! And you can bring Miriam too!" 

 

"Yeah, yeah now get off me!" Kassim ordered, shoving the younger boy off him. Riya giggled at the scene. 

 

Kassim waved goodbye and started off down the road back to his house, while the new family of three retreated into the tent.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Later that night, Anise had left to go to work while Riya and Alibaba lay on the floor of the tent under a blanket. Alibaba softly snoring and Riya wide awake and staring up at the sky through a hole in the ceiling of the tent. She could hardly believe all that had happened to her. Within a few hours she had gained two new friends, a new family and a home.

 

Many years later, Riya would look back and reflect on that fateful day that changed her life. She would wonder what would have happened if she had turned the other corner and not run into the two boys? What would have happened if she didn't take Kassim's hand when he offered it to her? What would have happened if she had decided to not even steal the bread that day at all?

 

Whatever the case, what had happened, happened and for the time being, Riya was glad that it did. With that, her gray eyes fluttered closed and soon she had drifted off to the land of dreams.


	4. New Day, New Home, New Family

The sun shone through the fabric of the curtain, shining down on the small child that was curled up on the floor, underneath the thin blanket. Riya yawned and slowly blinked her gray eyes open as she awoke. She gasped and jumped back as she saw herself staring into a pair of excited looking brown eyes.

 

"You're awake!" Alibaba cheered excitedly.

 

Riya blinked and then all the previous days events suddenly came flooding back to her: Stealing bread, being chased by the evil breadman, Kassim and Alibaba rescuing her, meeting Anise and ultimately being adopted by her, thus becoming a member of the family.

"Ah, well good morning sleepy head." Anise greeted, smiling happily as she entered the tent, some fruit in her arms.

 

"Good morning." Riya mumbled rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She hadn't slept so peacefully since her grandparents had died.

"I hope you two are hungry." Anise said to her children as she set down and put the fruit onto a small eating mat. "I got breakfast for us."

 

"Oh boy! Food!" the young boy cheered and ran over, plopping down onto the dirt and snatching up an apple, happily munching on it. Riya stood up and stretched before going over and sitting next to her new mother and looked at the food, hesitating.

 

"Go on sweetie." Anise smiled, gently urging her to eat.

Riya reached over and grabbed a few grapes and popped one in her mouth. She smiled as the sweet taste filled her mouth. "It's good."

 

"I'm glad." Anise smiled and started to peel an orange.

Alibaba finished the apple and tossed the core aside then went to grab a few grapes from Riya. "Mother, after breakfast can Riya and I go and play with Kassim and Miriam?"

 

"I don't see why not." the black haired woman replied. "If Riya wants to its alright with me."

 

"What do you say Riya?" Alibaba asked, looking at his sister hopefully.

 

Riya smiled, she did want to see the dark haired boy again and thank him once again for saving her yesterday. "Okay!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After breakfast, the two children set out and began to walk through the slums, heading towards Kassim's house.

 

"So Riya," Alibaba began, trying to make conversation. "How do you like living with Mother and me?"

 

"I like it." Riya answered smiling a little. "Your mother is very nice."

 

"Yeah, she's the best mom in the whole world!" the blond boy smiled proudly. Riya just smiled a litte bit bigger. She had only known the woman for about a day and she had a feeling that that statement wasn't that far from the truth.

 

"Hey Alibaba!"

 

The two children looked ahead and just a little bit ways ahead in the distance, they could make out the figure of their dark haired friend. Next to him was a younger child, a girl who bore a striking resemblance to her brother.

"Kassim!" Alibaba cheered and took off running, leaving Riya in the dust. Once close enough, Alibaba lept into the air and tackled the older boy to the ground. Kassim groaned loudly in pain and the girl who was with him shook with silent laughter. Riya ran over, not bothering to hide her giggles.

 

"I told you not to do that!" Kassim snapped, kicking Alibaba in the stomach to get him off. Alibaba fell onto the ground and doubled over holding his stomach.

"Ow..."

 

"Don't be so mean to him, Big Brother." the girl spoke in a soft voice.

Kassim rolled his eyes. "He deserved it." He blinked as a hand was shoved in his face.

Riya smiled and held out her hand. "Need some help?"

 

Kassim blinked and placed his hand in Riya's hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Aw man, Kassim!" Alibaba suddenly wailed. "You left a bruise!" he cried, lifting up his shirt and revealing a blue and black bruise that was vaguely in the shape of a foot.

 

"Oh wah, wah, wah." Kassim mocked. And then was knocked down as Alibaba tackled him again. "Get off me!"

 

Riya watched silently as the two boys rolled on the ground, wrestling. Their two female companions totally forgotten. 

 

"You get used to it."

Riya jumped and looked over seeing the small girl was speaking to her. "Used to it?"

 

The girl nodded. "They fight a lot but they're still friends. They'll stop in a little bit."

 

"Ah, okay." Riya nodded. "Who're you?"

 

"M-My name is Miriam. Wh-who are you?"

"My name is Riya." Riya smiled at her. "I'm living with Alibaba now."

 

"Oh yeah. Big brother did say that he and Alibaba made a new friend yesterday. You're really pretty."

Riya blushed slightly but smiled. "Thank you, Miriam. You're really pretty too."

 

Miriam blushed and covered her mouth giggling but quickly stopped as her and Riya's attention was drawn to the two boys fighting. The girls watched them for several minutes before Riya had enough and stormed over, grabbing Alibaba and Kassim by their hair and then konked their heads together.

 

"OW!"

"What was that for?!" Kassim growled rubbing his head.

"That realy hurt!" Alibaba whined, rubbing his own forehead.

"Because you two were going to keep fighting all day if somebody didn't stop you." Riya huffed, crossing her arms. The boys didn't respond. She was right.

"Whatever." Kassim huffed and got to his feet.

"So what do we do now?" Miriam asked looking up at the older kids.

"Ooh! I know!" Alibaba exclaimed. "Lets go to Junkyard Mountain!"

A wide grin pulled at Kassim's lips. "Yeah!"

"Okay." Miriam smiled.

Riya tilted her head, confused. "What's Junkyard Mountain?"

*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~

As it turns out, Junkyard Mountain was exactly that. A mountain of junk.

Most of said junk was broken down furniture. Chairs, tables, couch cushions ect. with various different other types of trash piled in a heap. At the top of the mountain was a chest of drawers that someone had thrown out.

And climbing and running all around that mountain were a bunch of other slum kids.

"Hey guys! Come play!" a random slum kid hollered, spotting the group of four.

"Yeah!" another one shouted. "We can play Capture the Flag!"

"Alright!" Alibaba whooped and ran off.

"Wait for us Alibaba!" Miriam giggled and toddled after her brothers best friend.

Riya meanwhile looked over at Kassim. "What's Capture the Flag?"

"You never played?" Kassim asked. Riya shook her head no. "Well basically someone puts a white flag at the top of the pile and then the players race to the top of the mountain. Whoever gets the flag is the winner."

 

Riya nodded, letting the information process. "Sounds easy enough. Can I play too?"

"Well duh!"

"Kassim! Riya! Get over here already!"Alibaba called from the top of Junkyard mountain, white flag in hand."

"Prepare to lose Aliaba!" Kassim declared confidently and ran over, Riya right behind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once the flag was positioned at the top of the mountain, Riya, Kassim, Alibaba and a few other kids stood a few feet back front Junkyard Mountain. All of them crouched down ready to take off when the signal was given.

"Hey Alibaba, don't be too upset when you lose to me." Kassim smirked at his best friend.

The blond child snorted. "Not even in your dreams."

"I hope you both enjoy eating my dust." Riya grinned.

The toy boys looked at her. "Yeah right!"

But before the blue haired girl could retort, she was interrupted by Miriam who stood off to the side of the line, ready to start the race.

"On your marks.....get set.....go!"

And in the blink of an eye, the group of children jetted off like a bunch of Olympic runners. It wasn't long until the trio of Alibaba, Kassim and Riya began to take the lead.

"That flag is mine!" Kassim declared. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his yellow colored eyes which only widened as he saw Riya pass him. "Hey!"

Riya looked back and blew a raspberry as him. This mistake turned out to be fatal however for she ended up tripping on some garbage and fell, faceplanting into the ground. "Oof!"

"How're you gonna win if you're lying on the ground~?" Alibaba taunted as he ran past her, laughing in victory. Kassim let out a growl. No way was he going to lose to Alibaba (again). He kicked it into high gear as Riya scrambled to her feet and ran after the boys.

 

They soon made it to the base of the mountain and began to scale it. All around the children who were not participating in the race cheered loudly, urging their friends to win. Little Miriam cheered for the trio.

"Go Big Brother! Go Alibaba! Go Riya! Go! Go! Go!"

 

She couldn't choose between her brother and her friends.

Riya scrambled up Junkyard mountain, sliding back every once in awhile as the trash beneath he gave away and began to slide. She looked to her left and saw Kassim gaining on her. She looked to her right where Alibaba was and saw....

 

Nothing.

Riya blinked. Where did he go?

She shook her head and hurriedly aimed for the top. She must not get distracted. She was so close to the top but so was Kassim. The two were neck and neck. The flag was soon coming in grabbing range. So close! So close! Riya reached out a hand to grab the flag.....

"YES! I got it All hail your new king!" Kassim cheered.

"Aw boo!" Riya pouted. She stiffened and heard a crumbling sound as the garbage beneath her started to give out and she slipped, sliding all the way down to the bottom. Whoa!"

"Riya!" Miriam gasped and ran over. "Riya are you okay?!"

Yeah, im fine." Riya assured standing up, dusting off her already dirty dress. She smiled and ruffled the small girls hair.

Kassim meanwhile watched them from th top of the garbage mountain. Once realizing Riya was okay, he went back to gloating. "There isn't anyone who can beat me is there?" he asked grinning at the group of children below him. Man it felt good to be on top.

However, he failed to realize that the top drawer of the chest of drawers was opening up behind him. A hand reached out and snatched the flag.

 

"Hey!" Kassim cried, whirling around and spotting a grinning blond boy sitting in the top drawer.

"You should never let your guard down during battle Kassim." Alibaba adviced, holding the white flag. "You know why? because I can build more secret tunnels in this mountain than you can being to count! Its called the tunnel death blow! Hahaha!"

 

"Secret tunnels?" Riya thought. "Huh....So that's where he disappeared too."

Kassim on the other hand was none to happy about having his victory pulled out from under him. "You cant do that! That's cheating!"

"No it isn't!" Alibaba defended.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"IS TOO!"

Without warning, Alibaba suddenly leaped out of the top drawer and tackled Kassim. The two boys rolled down the mountain and once more began to wrestle. 

"Those two like to wrestle a lot." Riya observed.

Miriam nodded. "Like you wouldn't believe." Riya chuckled in response but stopped as her attention was drawn elsewhere.

"You cheater!" Kassim yelled as he pinned Alibaba to the ground.

"I did not cheat! Nothing in the rules says you cant use a tunnel!" The blond child yelled and rolled over, grabbing his friend by the dreadlocks. Kassim yelled in pain and grabbed Alibaba by his (*coughhorncough*) cowlick and kicked him away but Alibaba just tackled him again.

 

"HEY GUYS!!"

Both boys stopped, mid punch, and looked towards where the sound of the voice had come from. Their jaws hit the ground as they saw Riya standing atop Junkyard Mountain, the white flag clutched tightly in her tiny hand and a wide grin on her face.

"Now I'm the Queen of the castle!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The day was full of laughter, some fights and lots of fun and as evening rolled around, most of the slum children had returned to their homes. However, Riya, Alibaba, Kassim and Miriam stayed out a bit longer. The four of them sitting under a tree in a small grassy area.

"I cant remember the last time I had that much fun." Riya announced, giggling.

"Well you can have fun with us every day!" Miriam announced cheerfully.

"Yeah well that is if we want a bunch of girls tagging along." Kassim joked.

Riya smacked his arm. "Watch it."

"Ow!" Kassim yelped, rubbing his arm. "Damn. You hit hard."

"Big Brother said a bad word!" Miriam tattled while Alibaba and Riya laughed. Kassim rolled his eyes.

The group fell into a comfortable silence after that. The only sound being the occasional breeze blowing. All four of them tired from a full day of play.

Riya laid down in the grass. She glanced over to her right at Kassim and stared at him for several seconds.

Kassim, sensing he was being watched, turned his head to the sideand caught Riya staring. "What?"

Riya paused before answering. "Can I braid your hair?"

Kassim blinked. "What?" he repeated.

Riya didn't even answer. Instead she sat up in a sitting position and quickly reached over, grabbing three of Kassim's dreadlocks and began to braid them

 

"What the-HEY! stop that!" Kassims cried cried, squirming to get away but only succeeded on getting his hair pulled

"Stop moving!" Riya scolded. "You're making me mess up!"

"I said let go!" the purple haired boy ordered.

"No." Riya said and continued to braid.

"You are so weird." Kassim huffed, reluctantly sitting still. Alibaba and Miriam giggled at the scene.

"That's a good look for you, Kassim." Alibaba snickered.

Kassim on the other hand crossed his arms and grumped. "Shut up Alibaba."

"Big Brother looks pretty!" Miriam cheered. "Riya, can you teach me?"

The blue haired girl smiled. "Of coarse." She motioned for the younger girl to come over. Miriam ran over and sat next to Riya and the braiding lesson began. "Okay so first you take three pieces of hair and then you move them like this." she explained while demonstrating.

Miriam concentrated and tried to copy Riya's movements. "Like this?"

Riya grinned. "Yes, exactly!"

"Why are you using me to demonstrate on?" Kassim growled.

"Because you look so pretty in braids~" Aliaba teased.

If looks could kill, Alibaba would have fallen down dead right then and there.

 

After making many more braids and then taking out said braids, the sun was beginning to set and it was time for the children to return to their homes. They bid each other fairwell and headed home as the last rays of the Balbadd sun drifted over the horizon.


End file.
